The electric igniter on my jetboil has been giving me trouble. It's not completely broken, but I'll only see a spark 5 or 10% of the time. This means I don't completely trust my stove, and have to carry a lighter.

I've tried moving the spark rod closer/further from the burner, cleaning the igniter, and speaking softly to it, but I'm basically shooting in the dark.

I know they sell a replacement kit, but I am also wondering if it can't be fixed first. What else could I be trying?

1 Answer
1

Take a fine file or sandpaper and make sure there is only clean metal on the electrode tip. Often times these get corroded and dirty.

Use a Scotch-Brite pad or steel wool to clean the burner itself so that it also exposes clean metal. DO NOT use sandpaper on the burner.

Get some electrical contact cleaner and spray it directly into all orifices of the igniter. Also spray out the burner to clean out any dirt and dust. It's recommended that you wear gloves while doing this.

Shake the ignitor and the burner to remove any excess cleaner and let it dry for 10-15 minutes.

Reinstall the igniter in the stove and position the tip of the electrode about 1/4" or closer from the surface of the burner.

However my personal recommendation is forget the built-in igniter and keep the lighter (or other external ignition source), which has multiples uses, weighs very little, and is easily replaceable. The small built-in piezo-electric igniters all wear out rather quickly. I have a stove with one that no longer works and have friends with JetBoils with the same problem.

Also the replacement igniter is only $5.95. So in my opinion it's not worth trying fix the old one for that price if you don't want to depend on a lighter.